5. 3D Scanning and Printing

• Linkled to the group assignment page
• Explained what I learned about 3d printers
• Documented how you designed nad 3d printed your project
  and why it could not be made easily subrtractively
• Document how you scanned an object
• Included your original design files for 3d printing
• Included hero shot(s)

Ok, so week 5 I shall share my experience on 3d scanning and printing.

What I have learned about 3d printers & Info about my design process

With 3d printing you can take your smart phone (iphone SE 2022) and in a very
short amount of time scan an object by combining several snapshots from an array
of images taken at multiple angles/degrees numbering from 0-360. The app that I
used is called Abound 3d scanner. For a turntable I used a stool that allowed the
seat to spin. In addition to these tools I also used a ‘ring light’ with phone
holder to manually take 64 snapshots of the image. I recorded footage of this
on a Canon Vixia HF G20. Once I digitized this object, I then sliced it in layers
in a program called Buildbee on my pc to prepare it for 3d printing. After
Buildbee software prepared the object, I then printed it on a Creality ender 3
which was connected to my personal/school laptop. With this design process, I
created a larger replica of my sons old lego piece in Cinema 4d, which is a
3d modeling, rendering, animation program. I also was able to 3d scan an old
music box digitize it by making a digital replica that I transferred to my
computer from combining 64 still images. I then printed a smaller scale version
of the Owl music box that I 3d scanned. So 3d printing is a great thing for me
being a 3d modeler and now I can 3d scan as well.

Here are a few up and downs about 3d printing.

Ups

Downs

A Few Advantages

A few advantages of 3d printing are that you can recreate a model of almost anything,
with varying levels of detail. You can scan a live object or create an object in a 3d
modeling program. You have a high level of control of how the quality of the print turns
out with software that allow you to make edits to scanned or created models. 3d printers
to take up much space so you can run multiple instances in a small area. Some of the
limitations consist of print trays needing calibrated often and or repaired. Larger or
more complex tasks can take several hours to complete. Filament printed sculpters/prints
are typically more brittle and easier to break or damage that other creations because of
the strength of the printing material. Another limitation with 3d printing is that if the
geometry is a little of and isn’t correct before printing, can result in a monstrous
degradation of the original print that you had in mind. Certain parts will be warped or
have holes in them, even added material that wasn’t originally there.

Research

For research I watched youtube videos on 3d scanning and 3d printing.
To gain a little bit of knowledge on 2 new fields of 3d that are new
to me. After watching a few youtube videos and google searches, I came
across a few mobile 3d scanning apps for ios (iphone users). That I
used for testing 3d scanning from my iphone 2nd gen SE (2022).
The mobile apps that I decide to try out are Scaniverse & Abound.
After trying out some of those apps and weighing out pros & cons
I think I will stick with the scanner app which I am currently using.
This will be a good idea for the time being. I can always test out
other apps in the future. This will assure me a more consistant and
smooth process from conception to the final stage of execution.
Moving forward I will pay monthly to use Abound for 3d scanning.
Scandy Pro 3D iOS iPhone Scanning App Tutorial.

Although I didn't use this app, I learned lots of valuable information
regarding how 3d scanners work as well as new workflow ideas to try out
and would later use to comprise my own workflow with the programs that
worked the best for me and allowed me to move forward with my assignment.

Gallery

My first 3d prints

---

The two 3d scanning apps that I tested

Scaniverse

Abound

---

Scaniverse
The first app that I tried was Scaniverse. It was a struggle getting anyting to scan based on the type of
setup that I had. It was difficult pressing on-screen buttons because the phone was held by a ring light
camera attachment facing away from light This resulted in the attachment pushing buttons or taps on the
screen resulting in frequent and frustrating moments where I would have to restart the scan. Even finished
results from this app didn't provide me with satisfactory 3d scans that I would want to use in a project.

Abound
The other 3d mobile scanning app that I used was Abound. I found the user interface to be far more user-friendly
and also felt that it was constructed better than Scaniverse. Abound simply made sense and just wprked the way a
beginner like myself hoped that it would. Very small learning curve, for those that don't have alot of time to
dedicate to learning the complex ins and outs. Abound simply gets the job done. I used the version of both of
these programs. One thing about Abound is that the free version only allows users to export in .usdz format.
which isn't too bad. I used a simply online program to convert the usdz format into stl format so that I could
send it to my slicing software.

3d Scans and Setup

---

A few early scans in Abound

Good scan of owl

An External HDD

64 frames of capture vs 34 frames

---

Here are both of the project files for the 3d scanned owl

Download the usdz file

Download the stl file

---

I used www.convert3d.org to convert a usdz to an stl

Click here to see file

---

Using Buildbee app to 3D print your files

Download the doc file

---

Closet Setup

Here are a couple shots of my setup. I use a ring light that holds my 2020 iphone se

---

Footage of Prints

Video Footage of printing and scanning workflows

Printing 60% finished
Print job completed
HDD scan completed

---

Print Gallery

3d prints and Taquitos

Taquito and laptop

Single block

Underside of block

Broken part

The item that I created and printed was the lego block. I created
this piece in Cinema 4d (a 3d modeling program). I simply modeled
two shapes. A square and a cylinder. I extruded and hollowed out
the insides of both of these objects and set the cylinder atop
the closed end of the square object. Allowing it to protrude
slightly through the square.

Early stages of owl

Owl finished

Real and replica

---

Owl with egg

Owl side view

Failed print

The goal was to make a print that can't be easily made subtractively. This owl with an
egg inside would be difficult and almost impossible to create on other machines. Such as
a laser cutter and having to account for kerf and the intensity of the laser, even a 5w laser
would not be able to effectively create this same model.

---

I created a hall pass for my school. Here is how I did it.

I used Cinema 4d, a 3d modeling and rendering program used by industry professionals
In film, video games and motion graphics. I will guide you through my process and flow
Open Cinema 4d create a cylinder by going to the ribbon at the top of the screen
and selecting the *create* tab and select cylinder. You can also do this by clicking


Create object

on the cube icon. Adjust the size parameters to whatever size you want in radius.
Next go to mograph & select motext, flip and rotate text object so that text is facing up.
Adjust the size of the text so that it fits within the radius of the cylinder. I then created
a tube to fit around the flattened cylinder to create a raised edge type of border around
the cylinder. Next I clicked on the array icon and selected the *Boole* option. This option
can add or subtract the geometry of one object within or without another. After creating a
boole, I then clicked on the hall pass cylinder base and dragged this item to the boole and
made it a child of the boole. I did the same thing for the cylinder that I named hole, because
it became the hole in the base. As far as the options of boole I used the option ‘a subtract b’.

Boole options

I saved the file as a native c4d project so that it can be edited in
the future. After saving my work I then exported the file into 2 different formats for easy
distribution. I exported the hall pass to a .stl file as well as a .fbx file. These are the file types
that I have used and have seen used the most recently since I began 3d printing.

Here is a render of the hall pass

Quick render of hall pass

This was a simple project to get a design created and printed in 1 hour. The design
process is less than 10 minutes. The printing process has an estimated time of
42 minutes. With 1 minute of cool down. My workflow consists of designing the
3d object in Cinema 4d, then exporting the .stl file to Creality 3d printing software.
Which slices (creates printable layers in an ordered fashion) then sends the sliced file
instructions to the Ender 3v3 3d printer which then prints layer by layer the image
that was sent to it.

---

This was the first attempt at trying to make a hall pass in a hour hour time frame

Bad print on this attempt

Here are the .stl and .fbx files

.fbx file
.stl file

---

Not easily done subtractively

Here are a few 3d prints that would be difficult to be made subtractively.
These items, Benchy & the Tesseract are not easily made subtractively because of
their unique inner shaping and contours. What does this really mean you ask?
. It means the object’s shape or design is something you couldn’t create just by carving
or cutting material away from a solid block. In other words, if you tried to make it
using subtractive methods like chiseling rock/stone or machining a metal, you’d either end
up with extra material you couldn’t get rid of, or hidden spaces inside that you
just couldn’t reach or shape properly.

My first attempt at making the Tesseract was not successful. The model, lifted
from the bed/tray while the printing was going on, so I aborted that job and
adjusted the adhesive setting and made sure that the bed was warmer than before.
For the slicing software, I use Cura Ulitmaker as it works well and is easy setting up.
Ultimaker analyzes the 3d model that you uploaded. In my case it is an stl file.
After file is analyzed, the object is sliced in vertical layers. Starting at the
base/bottom of the object, to the top most/highest point of the object. After this
slicing has been done (usually only takes a few seconds, but it depends model size)
you will be presented with an option to save the file to the device for later use,
or the file can be sent directly to the 3d printer via usb-c or whatever usb required.
If I can direct your attention to one of the prints below, there is a skirt on one of
the models. This is to provide an adhesive to hold the model down so it doesn't lift
while printing job is going on.